Days Gone By
by Geek in the Purple
Summary: It has been years since everything began: we had won Nationals, I was going to Yale, and Finn and Rachel were going to get married. We had dreams and a bright life ahead, but that never came. / This story is about how Quinn and Rachel struggle to survive in an apocalyptic world and how they get closer to each other in the process. Written from Quinn's POV.
1. Prologue

_**A/N:** First, I want to thank my friend Catie for her so much needed help editing this story :D. _

_Second, another faberry fic for you to enjoy! Yay! This one starts from a canon point and then moves to AU, because (__unfortunately) _there are no zombies in Glee. 

_I'm not fond of AU fics, but I guess this idea got stuck in my head and I couldn't help it; so even if you don't like AUs give it a chance. It may surprise you! ;)_

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**Present day**

"Fuck! We're trapped!" I mutter angrily walking backwards from the last exist left to check out at the supermarket.

"There must be an emergency door or something," she says worriedly.

"I've checked. We're surrounded." I can't look at her, so I just pace around and think about a way to get out of here.

"There's got to be a way to get out here!" she shouts desperately now.

"I've told you not to come with me!" I remind her. "I would have been fine on my own."

"What? Are you blaming me for this?" she asks with wide eyes and a raised brow, shocked.

"No, it's just that…"I take a deep breath, "Every fucking door is blocked. It was supposed to be an easy job. Get to the supermarket, grab some food, and come back to the camp."

"You know it's always easier said than done," Rachel says.

"I know okay? I didn't mean to say that. I'm sorry." I step forward and wrap my arms around her. "It's just that I don't want you to be here."

"Someone had to come," she states, hugging me tightly.

"But it could have been someone else," I whisper, wishing she would have stayed at the camp.

"No Quinn," Rachel steps back and looks up at me, "I couldn't bear to wait for you another day not knowing if you will come back. It kills me. I rather be here helping you than waiting there doing nothing."

"Okay, okay. Just relax. We'll think of something."

I need to think a way out of here quickly. We don't have much time. The infected are pushing too hard on the supermarket's windows. They are going to break them soon. The back door is full of them and upstairs there's nothing more than clothes. No exit.

I look around. There's nothing here that can help us kill them. Just a bunch of clothes and some cans. It's ironic. We risk our lives to get some food, but there's not even enough food for everyone back at the camp.

"How many bullets you have left?" I ask. Rachel checks her gun.

"Just 11."

"And I have…" My gun only has 5 bullets, but I have another 4 in my pocket. "Nine." It's not enough. It's not even near enough. I load it, thinking about the dozens of them that are outside.

God, I can't let her die here.

"What's the plan?"

"I don't know, but I tell you one thing," I assure her, approaching her and leaning my forehead against hers, "we are making it out of here and we'll leave this stupid city back to the camp, okay?"

She nodded and I kissed her hard, feeling my heart beating fast.

I can't let her see the fear in my eyes. She can't notice my voice trembling. She has to feel that there's a possibility both of us can survive, although I know that's not gonna happen.

The plan is clear to me. She lives, I die. But I'm not ready to say goodbye. We went through hell, and she saved me in more ways than one, but if I have to die for her to live, I will do it without hesitation.

It has been years since everything began: we had won Nationals, Carmen Tibideaux had come to see Rachel sing, I was going to Yale, and Finn and Rachel were going to get married. But none of that happened.

We stayed in Chicago the night after winning Nationals. The next day, when we were coming back to Lima, we got caught in an accident.

It was the day everything went to hell. From that moment on, it got worse and worse.

The first thing I remember is the feeling of being trapped in a nightmare…

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_A/N: This is just the prologue. I hope you really like how it begins. Leave your thought in the comments! :D_


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**__ I have some chapters already written, but the story is not finished yet, so if you like it, let me know in the comments._

_WARNING: From now on, there will be a lot of dark and sad things. It's a zombie apocalypse after all! _

_Again thank you to my lovely friend Catie for helping me edit the story :)_

_Enjoy!_

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**Day 1: Chaos**

I opened my eyes slowly. I wasn't ready for what I saw. I couldn't take my eyes off the scene in front of me. There was a man eating something. Not something, someone. He was eating… Artie?

Someone kneeled beside me. It was Puck.

"You okay?" he said. Was I? I didn't answer.

He helped me up and when I was on my feet again, I saw her. Her hair was drenched in blood and it ran down her face and stained her turquoise dress. Finn was carrying her. What was happening? Was I dreaming? Was this some terrible nightmare where you couldn't wake up until you die?

Mr. Schue was walking backwards with the rest of us at his back. Sam, Mike and Beiste were trying to open the back door. Sue, Joe and Rory were nowhere to be seen and the others seemed just fine.

But she wasn't. She was unconscious in Finn's arms. Her limbs were falling like she was dead. Was she dead? I looked up at Finn. He was crying as if he didn't know what to do. I was too shocked to cry.

I felt there was a fog blocking my hearing and I couldn't listen cleanly to my surroundings. Finn was saying something, again and again and his voice was becoming clearer with each movement of his lips.

"Just open the goddamn door!" I finally heard him yelling impatiently.

Suddenly every noise around me became crystal clear and brought me back to reality. There was a lot of lot of yelling and crying and then a thud. They opened the door.

We got out of the bus disoriented. There was huge accident with several cars and a couple of ambulances involved. There were people injured while others were running like there was no tomorrow.

Why were they running? Soon I knew the reason. Some people were attacking others, like the man on the bus.

Were they like zombies, like in the movies? That was supposed to be science fiction, that couldn't happen in real life. It was a dream. It had to be.

When they grabbed Sugar and I heard her scream in pain while that man bit on her neck I knew it wasn't a dream. It was too real to be a dream.

I walked backwards when a woman pounced on Mrs. Pillsbury. Mr. Schue tried to get her free as he ordered everyone to run. And that's what we did.

Then everything happened really fast. I heard someone yelling something about staying together. I thought it was Sam. While I ran I checked constantly where Finn was. I didn't want to get away from him and Rachel. Even with my initial shock, I was worried.

Puck was next to me. I kept moving not wanting to look back, when suddenly I heard a glass crashing at my right. I saw scared how a hand reached out from the car window, but I sidestepped quickly.

"Quinn!" Puck yelled.

That man inside the car was insane. He kept injuring himself with the broken window just to get to me. I was unable to peel my eyes away from his ghastly towering features; his face was sunken in, eyes unfocused. His mouth twitched and drooled as if craving for something; for me. The smell of blood that was coming out from his face and arms made my stomach churn and I was having a hard time not to vomit. It seemed he had been bleeding from the eyes, but that blood was now dry. The color of his pupils were a mix of dark red and black. I saw everything that I never wanted to see before Puck made me move again.

"C'mon!" he said grabbing me by the arm and pulling.

I focused again on running. My yellow dress allowed me to move freely, even if it was below my knee, but my brown leather sandals didn't let me run as fast as I would have liked to in that situation. At that moment, I wished I had my trainers and my cheerleader uniform.

Coach Beiste said something about the woods. Yes, it was a good idea. Everybody that I saw turned right into the woods to move away from the road. A guy blocked Tina and Mike's path. They stepped back.

It was the last time I saw them.

I ran as fast as I could, not taking my eyes away from her. Brittany and Santana where right behind me. Kurt, Blaine, Sam and Beiste were leading the way followed by Finn. The more we ran, the less I could hear the screams and the more I could think.

Beth… Was this happening everywhere or was it just there? Was it under control?

"Puck!_"_ I called. He turned to look at me. He understood what I meant instantly.

"Just keep running for now," he said.

When we got to what it seemed safe land, Beiste said something about catching our breaths.

Everybody stopped and walked towards Finn, who was laying Rachel on the ground. She couldn't be dead. Someone asked. It was Kurt.

Finn leant forward and listened carefully.

"She's breathing," he said relieved. He took his jacket off and started cleaning her. Beiste kneeled beside her and checked her wounds. As a football team coach, she had enough knowledge on first aid techniques.

"Her wounds aren't that bad at first sight. I thought they were worse because of all the blood, but I'm not sure if this is all hers," she said pointing at her dress. "However I cannot tell if she has a severe concussion," Beiste announced.

"We need to get some help," Finn said.

"What the hell is happening?" Santana prompted. It was a rhetorical question, because no one there knew the answer.

I took my phone and dialed Shelby's number. Then my mum's. Nothing.

"Try your phones," I said and the answers came almost instantly. The lines were jammed. No internet connection neither. Phones had stopped working when we left Chicago a few hours before, but we hadn't given it too much thought because we were still enjoining our victory.

"We'll figure out something, but we need to know first what's happening."

"Maybe it was just this accident," Mercedes offered.

"Or maybe not…" Kurt added.

"What can we do?" Sam asked.

"We should stop for now." That was Blaine.

"What!? We are not going to stop. We need help!" Santana said.

"And what are you suggesting? We can't get back to the road, our phones don't work and Rachel is injured!"

"Don't shout at me! You hear me? Don't even try to raise your fucking voice at me!" Santana yelled.

"Are you going to stop me?" Blaine responded defiantly.

"Of course I am!" Santana walked towards him, but was stopped by Beiste in a second.

"Everybody calm down!" Beiste ordered.

"Tell her to fucking calm down!" It was the first time I heard Blaine swear.

"Santana stop," Beiste ordered, but she kept fighting until the only thing that was left was a sobbing mess. Everybody watched in silence the scene. Kurt was also crying while he went next to Rachel to hold her hand.

"Blaine is right," Beiste began, "it's getting dark and it's too dangerous to get back to the road," she finished.

"No," Finn objected, "I'm not going to stay here watching her like that," he added pointing at Rachel. "We're not too far from Plymouth. I've seen it on the signs. There has to be a clinic or something there."

"He's right." That was the first time I spoke and I agreed with him. Suddenly everybody seemed to be arguing with themselves.

"I'm going," Santana said and after that everybody approved Finn's idea.

"Errr, guys?" Puck began, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?" Finn asked.

"I'm probably not the smartest person here, but if what is happening is what I think it is, the worst thing we can do is going to a city, and even worse to a hospital."

"Why do say that?" I intervened, "Rachel is injured. We need a doctor."

"Okay, listen to me," he began before anyone could call him stupid or something, "at the accident there were a couple of ambulances involved. My theory? The crazy people came out of those ambulances, which means that they were going to a hospital. Imagine how many of them got to the hospital by this time and went crazy there."

"That's just a theory," Finn said.

"Look," Puck insisted, "I've read, watched and played everything that is related to zombies—"

"Zombies!?" Kurt interrupted, "Are you insane?"

"Call them whatever you want, but you saw them eating, biting and attacking other people."

"Okay, what's your point?" Blaine asked impatiently.

"My point is that all the information on this issue agrees in at least three things: Avoid highways, don't go to a hospital or medical center and get away from populated areas."

"Those are just theories," Finn claimed.

"Or maybe not…" Sam spoke up, "I'm not that much into the zombie world, but I think zombies or not, what Puck is saying makes perfect sense."

"Thank you," Puck agreed, "In short, more people more chances to find trouble."

"Maybe he's right," Kurt added. It made sense, but I still thought that we needed a doctor to check on Rachel.

"Fine. You can stay, but I'm going to take her to—"

We all turned to look at Rachel while she stirred up slowly, sounds of murmurs and groans coming quietly from her lips.

"Rach?" Finn responded quickly, kneeling beside her.

"Finn?" she opened her eyes a bit and looked around. We locked eyes and I felt a wave of relief as a smile formed on my lips.

"How are you feeling?" he asked helping her to sit up.

"A little dizzy and my head hurts." She looked at her surroundings confused "What happened? Where are we?" Her voice was soft and weak, but I could sense the concern on her tone.

"Well," Finn tried, "We had a car accident but it got worse after that."

"Worse?"

No one answered. Beiste took a deep breath and began explaining her everything. Each word she said felt like a stab to everyone. It was like a reminder of who wasn't there anymore.

Rachel's eyes were covered in tears and she wasn't the only one. She asked a lot of questions, but we didn't have answers for any of them.

"What are we going to do now?"

"We're going to Plymouth, so someone there can check your cuts Finn replied. "Can you walk?" Rachel nodded.

"So we are finally going to a city?" Puck asked disappointed.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Finn answered abruptly.

"No, we should stick together. We are all going."

That day I knew what it was like to feel scared.

**Night 1: She's okay.**

There wasn't enough room for all the amount of people who were in the hospital. They had a whole floor in quarantine and a lot of people feeling ill were coming. The hall was full and we were all gathered around Rachel. A nurse came to treat her wounds, and she said they were superficial.

A man explained us that the police was evacuating Manhattan, because something was making people more aggressive. At that point only one channel was working and the only thing they were saying was that we had to stay at home. He told us that most websites on the internet were blocked. No YouTube, newspapers, Facebook… Nothing.

When we had entered the hospital I felt safer, because there were policemen everywhere, but as time went by I felt less secure. There were too many people in a small space. Particularly there was a woman next to us coughing up blood and no one was taking care of her. It was making me nervous.

"How much time are we going to stay here?" I asked.

"They are going to give her some painkillers and Beiste is talking with the police to see if they can help us get to Lima," Finn replied.

"Why don't we try to get some sleep? We're safe here." That was Blaine.

I looked at Puck. He made me feel safe just by staying next to him. I sat on the floor and so did he. He hugged me so I could use him as a pillow.

Rachel was in front of me wrapped in Finn's arms, while I was in exactly the same place with Puck. We looked at each other and a weak smile appeared in my face. She responded the same way before closing her eyes. I was glad she was here with us.

That night, against all odds, I managed to sleep.

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_Thanks for reading!_


	3. Chapter 2

_A/N: Next chapter here! Thank you to my friend Catie again for her help editing this._

_Enjoy and don't forget to leave a comment please!_

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**Day 2: No exit**

I didn't know how much time passed since I fall asleep, but as the hospital lights hit my eyes I thought I heard my mom calling. It was an illusion. She wasn't there and I wasn't at home.

I opened my eyes and realized where I was. The chaos around us was overwhelming. I rubbed my eyes again and then I instinctively searched for something that could soothe me. I found a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring at me.

We understood each other like any time before. She was wishing this was all a dream and felt terrified when she realized it wasn't. Just like me.

It was happening. It was real. Artie and Sugar were dead. Mike, Tina, Mr. Shue and Mrs. Pillsbury were missing, if not dead too. I didn't know if my mom or Beth were okay.

Finn said something to Rachel and I remembered the woman on the stretcher. She had stopped coughing. It seemed she was asleep. Good.

Beiste started waking everybody up. She had an idea; an idea that failed before she could began explaining it, because a strangled cry echoed through the hall followed by others in no time.

I saw how people began running in our direction. We got up and Finn looked above the people in the hall.

"Get out!" he yelled with a terrified expression on his face.

I began moving and fighting to reach the exit while the police tried to get in. We needed to get out of there. I looked back and saw the woman who had fell asleep getting up and attacking a man. I started to push harder so I could get out of there.

When we reached the exit there were cops everywhere trying to calm people, but when one of them got attacked by a civilian they began shooting. We weren't safe anymore.

"We have to get out of here now!" Beiste yelled before a guy pounced on her. She tried to get rid of him, but I couldn't watch anymore as I felt a firm hand on my arm pulling.

"C'mon!" Puck yelled making my feet react. We ran like we did before.

There was no time to think.

**Night 3: Helpless**

We reached some farming lands. No people near us. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. There was a barn and no cars to be seen and it seemed like there was no one there, but it was worth to check if there was something useful and at leastit had doors and we could be safe, just for the night.

Puck, Sam and Finn kept watch just in case. There was no food or water, but at least it wasn't cold. No one had spoken. It was as if everybody was immersed in their own thoughts. At least I was.

Watching films where people were caught in these situations was a different story than living them. This wasn't any movie where the super mom got to rescue her daughter. If I tried to get to New York, I probably wouldn't make it near the city, so the only thing I could do was cry.

But I wasn't the only one that felt that way. We all felt helpless. We had no direction. We were lost and we didn't know what could do.

Brittany and Santana were sleeping in one others arms while Blaine tried to comfort Kurt. It was as if we were strangers. Everybody had their own problems wondering their minds and we were all scared. Although we were together and they were staying just a few feet from me, I felt more lonely than ever.

I was sat on the floor with my back against the wall and my face hide among my arms. Even if I wanted to sleep and forget about everything for just some hours, all I could do was cry.

"Hey," Rachel said sitting next to me. I didn't answer. I just continued sobbing. "I'm sure she's okay." She was talking about Beth. "I'm sure Shelby is taking care of her. She will protect her with her life."

"Maybe that isn't enough," I said between sobs.

"Maybe she escaped before everything began. You don't know that." I said nothing and she continued, "I was thinking that maybe we could keep us company while Finn and Noah are on guard."

That night I found myself sleeping in Rachel's arms.

**Day 4: Friends**

"We need a car," Finn said. "There is no way we can get anywhere walking and it's not safe. Rachel is still weak and she can't walk too much."

"Finn, excuse me," Rachel cut in, "I'm not special here. I will walk as much as needed, but I agree with you. We need something faster than our legs."

"Maybe we should get back to the road," Kurt suggested.

"We can't defend ourselves, so we shouldn't be exposed to any threat," Puck explained.

"But maybe the police solved everything," Kurt insisted.

"You saw what happened at the hospital. I don't think the police are going to help us. They didn't look like they knew what's going on," Puck said.

"What if we check the house that is near the barn?" Sam suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I said. "What if they attack us?"

"But," Santana started speaking, "What if there's someone at that house that could help us? I think we should try."

"Let me guess…" I began, "You want Puck to go again, right?" I said getting up and confronting her. Her reaction surprised me.

"I don't want to fight, Quinn. I think we all should go."

"No fucking way," Puck exclaimed. "What do you think people do in these situations?"

"Shoot first, ask questions later," Finn intervened.

"Yeah. A scout should take a look first. Any volunteers?" Puck asked and in a second Finn was raising his hand.

"No way," Rachel said taking his hand down calmly.

"Puck went to check the barn last time. It's fair if I go this time," Finn spoke to Rachel.

"Bro, don't take this too personally, but you wouldn't be a good scout," Puck said.

"I'll go," I said. Everybody looked at me, shocked, and when I thought it was going to be Puck the one to object, Rachel surprised everybody.

"You are not!" she almost shouted. There was a small silence, before Puck came to support her.

"Sam can come," Puck said in an instant.

After a not too long argument about who would be the better scout, they decided that it was best if Sam and Puck went together to the house. They were athletic and they knew how to move silently and stealthily. I didn't want to argue; I was still thinking about Rachel looking at me terrified when I volunteered.

What was all that about? She didn't react that way when Finn volunteered. It wasn't as if I cared that much, but her eyes showed a fear I'd never seen before. I honestly didn't want to think too much about it. She just probably thought that one of the guys could be a better scout. That was all.

A long hour after they came back in one piece and with some company. There was a family living in that house: the father, James, the mother, Joana, and two little girls, Lily and Sara. The girls were about six and ten years old respectively. It was nice to find someone who was not trying to kill you.

They told us what they knew. While we were so caught in our Nationals contest, it seemed like there had been several cases of violence in some New York, Washington and Philadelphia hospitals, disturbances and lot of military presence. That was the official story, but there had been people on the internet that had uploaded some videos of people attacking other people in Las Vegas, and soldiers shooting mercilessly. So, it wasn't happening solely on the east coast.

Even though we didn't have internet connection on our phones, the cable had kept working for a few hours before the lockdown. The phones were overwhelmed. Although they were still working, it was useless to try calling anyone. The only reports on the radio and the TV were vague in details. They advised people to stay in their homes. They spoke about New York. It was in quarantine and the army didn't let anyone in or out. It was the same with Washington and Philadelphia, but nothing was heard about the west coast. Were they hiding information?

However they were still trying to calm down the population assuring us that everything was under control. Millions of people lived in those cities. I couldn't imagine a way to keep them all at bay, not when they all were so aggressive.

The main question was how exactly that happened in a couple of days. James' theory was that it had been happening for a while, but they didn't report it openly and maybe that was the reason it was spreading. There wasn't a good explanation for anything that was happening.

After eating something substantial provided by the family, they gave us some blankets and pillows and offered us the living room to spend the night.

They were good people.

**Night 4: Safe**

The sun was gone by now and a solitary candle was the only thing lighting the living room. The furniture layout was the typical for a living room. There was a large sofa oriented towards the TV and two small ones facing each other and next to the big one. The sofas had a pink and white floral motif. Also, in the middle of them there was a little wooden coffee table.

I was barely lying on the small sofa to the left with a yellow blanket covering my legs. We were all wearing the same clothes and I was grateful for having at least a blanket so my legs didn't get cold.

As I observed the scene in front of me, it almost reminded me of how we had slept at Nationals in New York. Almost.

Everybody was asleep, except for Finn and Puck who were on guard outside. Santana and Brittany were sleeping deeply on the larger couch while Kurt, Blaine, Sam and Mercedes where on the floor around the coffee table. But the only one in the room who was getting my attention was Rachel.

She was on the other sofa in front of me and, although she seemed asleep, her breathing wasn't steady. Her eyes were closed and her features were relaxed, but I could tell that she wasn't truly resting.

The warm light bathed her face and made her caramel skin look darker. To be honest, although I had never admitted it because I was too busy calling her names, she was pretty. I could appreciate beauty when I saw it, but saying it out loud was a different thing.

But that wasn't a problem for her. Even if everybody had told me millions of times how beautiful I was, she had been the only one to see beyond my pretty face, and not only once, but twice. She was better than me. She had always been.

Suddenly she opened her eyes wide with dread and leaned forward quickly while the rhythm of breathing fastened. I instinctively attempted to get up, but I got back to my previous position hastily, as if trying to hide my concern. However she noticed my movements and soon her eyes were focused on mine.

I was sure she had a nightmare, because her eyes were full of fear. I didn't know why, but I felt the need to calm her down and hug her. Without too much thought, I smiled at her and motioned with my head for her to come closer.

"Come here," I whispered softly to back my gesture.

She kept looking at me for a couple of seconds before reacting.

That night Rachel slept in my arms.

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_So this chapter was short, I know, but the story will get better soon! _


	4. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews and sorry it's taking me this long to update. Now that the summer is gone, I hope I can upload faster. Anyway, enjoy it and don't forget to leave a comment!_

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**Day 5: Goodbye**

A terrifying sound woke me up. I tightened my embrace on Rachel the moment I heard it. She did the same. It was dawning and the light was streaming through the windows giving a gloomy atmosphere to the house. James was downstairs in no time with a rifle on his hand and Joana and the girls at his back.

"There are like 3 of them trying to get inside," Puck informed entering the living room.

"Okay," James mumbled. "You three come with me. The rest stay here."

He pointed at Puck, Finn and Sam. He thought they were the most capable to do the job and he was right. The thing was that when you watch all those films, men tend to take the part as the protectors. Not because they aren't scared, but because they think that was their role to play.

Besides, I was too terrified to do anything, so I just stood there hugging Rachel like she was the only thing I had. We heard voices and gunshots and that was when Santana got up from his spot next to Brit and began speaking.

"We have to do something," she stated. No one answered. "We are not going to stay longer, so take whatever useful you see around and prepare to move."

It took us just a few seconds to react, but we did. Rachel got up and I followed her. We didn't separate from each other.

I found a metal letter opener and a candy bar just before the guys came back.

"It was your fucking fault!" Puck yelled at Finn as they came back.

"I'm okay, dude. It's nothing. Just let it be," Sam assured showing a wound on his arm.

"You're not okay. One of them grabbed you and it was his fault!" Puck accused pointing at Finn.

"What happened?" Rachel asked stepping forwards and leaving my side. I felt lonely the moment she left, although the room was full of people.

"Your boyfriend let those things grab Sam!" Puck explained angrily.

"Those _things_ were the Thompsons," James clarified.

"What do you mean 'let'?" I ignored James clarification and moved to stand next to Rachel.

"I-I-I froze," Finn confessed softly.

"You just fucking stood there watching!" Puck insisted.

"It was a girl okay?" Finn threw his hands up in despair, "I didn't know what to do! She was like 15! I'm sorry Sam!"

"It's not your fault man. I'm fine," Sam assured.

"What if it's like in the movies?" Brittany interrupted. It was the first time she spoke since the beginning and she said exactly what everyone else was thinking. I could see the concern in Sam's face.

"It's nothing. Really. You don't have to worry." The moment Sam said that, the rifle was aimed at him. Everyone gasped. Rachel's hand was on mine in a split of a second. Sam took a step backwards and lifted her hands as a sign of redemption.

"Hey, take it easy man," Puck offered trying to calm James. "He said he's fine."

"I'm not taking any risks," James warned. Was he really going to shot Sam?

"You don't know if that's gonna happen," Puck rationalized.

"Daddy…" the little girl begged. God, my heart was about to burst out of my chest. The man took a deep breath hearing his daughter's voice.

"Just leave," he ordered without lowering his weapon.

"Okay. We're leaving."

One by one we left the house to find ourselves back on the road.

After leaving the family lands while James made sure we left, we found another farm not too far from James'. Thankfully it was empty. Maybe it was the house of the Thompsons, because everything was intact. There was food and water, so we decided to stay there, eat something and see what we were going to do next.

We gathered around the living room table to discuss our possibilities. Rachel was sat on Finn's knees and I was standing next to Sam and leaning against the wall.

"We have to figure out what we are going to do," Puck began.

"Can I say something?" Kurt prompted without waiting for an answer, "I think we should get back to Lima. We are only a few miles away and our families are there."

"How do you know that?" Santana asked.

"They won't leave without us. I'm sure my father is there waiting for me," Kurt declared. I could tell by his expression that he wasn't sure.

"You don't know that. Maybe they've evacuated the city or something," Santana clarified.

"I think he's right." That was Rachel. "We don't know how things are in Lima and our best chance is to find our families."

"And what if the city is full of them?" Santana inquired, "We don't know anything. Yes, it seems that it began in the east, but we are hundreds miles away from New York and those things are here."

"She has a point," I agreed, "I think the information they are giving us is fake or it's not complete."

"We don't have any chances on our own. We need to find some answers at least. If the sick people are in Lima, the military will be there and we can ask them for some help." That was Blaine.

"Yeah, maybe there's some place safe where they send people," Brittany spoke again. She seemed better than a few hours ago. Maybe her thoughts that this was a dream lasted longer than for the rest.

"So everybody agrees?" Puck asked. It was a good idea and it was the only option.

Everybody answered except for Sam. I looked at him and he was rubbing his eyes.

"Are you okay?" I said resting my hand on his shoulder.

"I think I have something in the eye," he answered.

"Let me see." He removed his hands from his eyes. The moment I saw it I stepped back. "Oh my God," I mumbled covering my mouth with my hand. Everyone else looked at the scene in front of me.

"What?" he asked. No answer. "What is it?" he demanded alarmed and then he looked at his hands. They were covered in blood. "God…"

"Y-Your eyes are b-bleeding," I stammered with concern and fear.

"What is this!? Is this because the scratch!? I'm feeling okay!" His voice was louder at every word he said.

"Just try to calm down," Puck said approaching him.

"How do you want me to calm down? I'm bleeding from the eyes!"

"We'll seek help," Puck assured. Sam took a look around the room. His bleeding eyes landed on every person there.

"I know those looks! I know what you are thinking! I'm just fine! It's me!" He was having a panic attack. My eyes filled with tears. I couldn't believe this was happening. His pupils were still blue, but the rest of the eye was red instead of white and there was blood coming out of his tear ducts.

"Calm down Sam. Why don't we go to the sofa, so you can rest? We'll figure out something, okay?" Puck insisted resting her hand on Sam's back.

I looked at Finn and saw the guilt on his face.

Mercedes got up and walked towards him. They looked at each other and then she grabbed his hand hard. When they started walking towards the door, he took a last look at us and then he locked eyes with me.

That was the last time I could see Sam as everyone knew him.

**Day 7: Answers**

"Don't fucking move!" the soldier ordered aiming his gun at us.

We were on the outskirts of Fort Wayne when we saw the military. We approached one of them to ask for help, but he responded by aiming his weapon at us.

"We are not sick! I swear! We need help!" Puck shouted.

For a second, I thought the soldier was going to pull the trigger, but he didn't. He kept his gun up and called other soldiers.

When his colleagues came, some of them began looking for wounds, while others made sure we didn't move. They inspected us, one by one, although we kept saying that we weren't sick. But they weren't listen. If we weren't teenagers I really thought they had just shot us.

The man who was checking me had dark eyes and I couldn't see anything on them. They were just empty, like he was a machine following orders. His uniform was stained with blood and a scar ran down his right cheek. He seemed taken out from an Oliver Stone movie.

I looked at Mercedes, who was biting her lower lip hard. Then my eyes landed on Rachel. A blonde young man was examining her. First he checked the arms, legs and then her neck and her back. When the soldier lifted her hair and saw one of the wounds from the accident, he went crazy.

I saw all happening in slow motion. In a second, he took her by hair and threw her to the ground forcefully. I reacted instantly. I stepped forward and so did Puck and Finn.

We became enemies in the blink of an eye. Again they aimed their weapons at us. Rachel was on the ground just a couple of feet from me raising her hands in the air begging the soldier not to shoot her.

"She is not infected!" I yelled hysterically, "We had a car accident!" Was I crying? "Let her go!"

"Shut up!" the man with the scar ordered, at the same time he blocked my path with his rifle pointed at me.

"Please, don't hurt her," I begged. I couldn't notice the tears, but my vision was becoming blurred. I was definitely crying. I couldn't see her dying in front of me. I just couldn't.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" he said again moving her gun closer to my head.

"Please," I whispered looking at the soldier in the eye.

They were maddened. Finn insisted that Rachel was fine, that the wound happened a few days ago. He tried to reach for her, but the only thing he got was a punch in the face.

I fixated my gaze on Rachel again. She kept crying, but she wasn't looking at the soldier above her. Instead of that, her eyes were focused on mine. I just couldn't bear the thought of that man shooting Rachel because of nothing.

"Please!" I repeated louder, "Just check the fucking wounds again! We're telling the truth!"

The soldiers hesitated for a second, until, the one who seemed to be in command, waved them to re-examine the wound. The soldier aiming his weapon at Rachel obeyed. He leaned down and checked her eyes, nose and gums. He finally nodded. What that meant?

"Lower your weapons," the man in charge ordered. I sighed in relief. "You should head to Chicago ASAP. We are arranging a quarantine zone there."

Finn helped Rachel to stand up and they hugged. At least she had someone.

"What about Lima?" Puck asked.

"Forget it. It's not safe and we're not going to let you pass this city. If you had family there, they are probably heading to a quarantine zone or they are just dead," the sergeant answered bitterly.

"How are we supposed to get to Chicago?" Finn added.

"We can't go with you. We're cleaning the cities on this sector." Cleaning? " You can pick one of the cars on the road. I'm sure they still have fuel," the sergeant suggested. "Close the windows and doors and use always secondary roads. You should be fine."

"Can you tell us what's happening?" Santana interrupted.

"I'm afraid we don't have too much information," the man in his forties answered. "It's some kind of virus. The infected people aren't themselves anymore. If someone you know is infected, don't ask questions, don't try to rationalize with them, just run or, if you can, hit them on the head. Just remember that the person you used to know is not there anymore. Okay?" he finished.

I nodded, but honestly I wasn't acknowledging what he said, because I couldn't imagine killing my mum or my friends.

The sergeant waved his squad to continue. "Good luck," he offered before turning around and heading towards the inside of the city.

That day I risked my life for the first time to save someone. Not someone, but Rachel Berry.

* * *

_It's getting interesting, don't you think? Thoughts, please? _


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